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In modern US politics, "socialism" is the Government giving people anything for free.


That still doesn't make sense, the Government is paying people to be in the military.


My point was really that "socialism" (in common use, especially on the libertarian right) is not really tethered to any historical definition. It's a political term to attach to things you don't like.


You have to very dense or bordering on disingenuous to not see the subsidized healthcare, subsidized childcare and spouses, subsidized moving costs, etc etc etc as "socialism" in the colloquial sense..... You can't get even 10% those benefits in the private sector without the same chuds screeching about communism.


You get those benefits in many programmer jobs, its just things companies provide since it attracts people to the job.


Not at all, those are just perks of the job, not socialism in any sense.


Benefits like that have nothing to do with socialism or communism.


Keyword you seem to have missed is "colloquial". Yes I know they don't. But 99% of the time those are the type of programs being railed against by free market evangelist....

But in reality....The USA mic is the closest thing to actual meaning of socialism the USA has ever tried.


Colloquial usage of the word is simply incorrect. I don't see how the US is the closest when nowhere in its history have workers significantly controlled the means of their own production. It simply hasn't happened around the world and I doubt it ever will.


Sure, however the people using that word are simply incorrect.




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